{"sf1_id":893064,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Adventures of Peter Gray Chapter 19: How I Got Meself in Jail","author":"Domus Vocis","words":4176,"posted_at":"2015-08-01T18:03:00.000Z","tags":["1899","Adolescent","Adventure","Canine","Comedy","Compassion","Discipline","Feline","Fox","Furson","Kid Blink","Mammal","Mouse","New York","New York City","Newsies","Story Progression","Street urchin","Tiger","Violence (not In Yiff)","Wolf","adorable","boy","gray wolf","jail","prison","teen","thought provoking"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/893064-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-19-how-i-got-meself-in-jail","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/893064","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=893064\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Chapter\n19\nHow\nI Got Meself in Jail\n\"Excuse me copper, but how\nlong do I hafta stay in 'ere?\" I whined while grabbing the round metal bars.\nAll around me, other convicts with deep voices growled and yipped at me comment\nwhile banging the bars of their cells. I sniffed the air with me muzzle, and\ncurled me tail at the foul stench while I peeked to copper through the jail\nbars. \"It stinks, I'm hungry, and I want me father's pocket watch back!\"\n          The wolf in\npolice uniform growled and turned away from me while he sat down in the chair.\nFrom me cell, I could see the pocket watch poking outta his pocket like a\nteasing bordello girl. \"Stop yer yapping or I'll give ya a proper blinker,\" he\nsnapped like a lion. He laid back and swished his tail while smirking at me.\n\"And fer yer information ya newsie, yer spending the rest of the day until\ntomorrow before a judge'll judge ya fer yer crime 'gainst the fine city.\"\n          I widened me\neyes, and fell back on the metal bed against the wall. Laughter erupted from me\nlips, and I clutched me stomach until I could speak properly. \"And how does\nprotesting make me from a lousy street urchin into Jack the Ripper copper?!\" I\nspoke venom into the last word, and that sent the policewolf's blood boiling as\nhe faced me cell. \n          \"Ya think\nthat's so funny ya little runt?\" he sneered, then turned to the cell next to\nme. \"Hank Jones, what do ya say we move ya two in together in case we got other\nnewsies to round up?\"\n          If I was\nscared before, then I was blinder than a bat when the copper opened the cell\nnext to mine and pulled a hulking and older tiger. Along with his growling\nteeth, his fur was white, black, and very orange. His arms were very wide, and\nit made me wonder how the 'ell a wolf of the copper's size wasn't peeing his\ntrousers in fear. \n          Instead, the\nofficer grinned at me and locked the door behind the Bengal tiger. \"Feel free\nto talk together, but behave yourselves while I go to the bathroom,\" he turned\n'round the corner of the long hallway and the sound of other prisoners shouting\ncontinued.\n          The Bengal\nturned to me with his towering height, and I gulped a whimper while backing\nagainst the brick wall. He was as tall as the cell, and wore a brown jacket and\nblack pants, his black and orange stripped tail twitching behind him. I\neventually felt me fur scratch against the mortar behind me, and me ears folded\ndown at his sneering gaze. I also felt every piece of fur on me body stand at\nattention like Civil War soldiers. \n          So I know\nwhat yer asking: how did a lovely and likeable street wolf like me get put in\njail? Well, it started not long after what happened at the Brooklyn Bridge. \n          Although the\nriot was very small, word spread around New York so fast that everywhere I went\nthe words 'newsie' and 'strike' were muttered and shouted all over the tenement\nhouses, the streets, Broadway, and even Central Park. Believe it or not, I saw\nfewer and fewer newsies selling papers. Rumor had it that all were joining\nBlink and his cause, or taking advantage of the strike. \n          Meanwhile,\nwhile looking for a decent meal around Five Points, I made me way to the flea\nmarket with a pocketful of coins when I bumped into a raccoon and lost me grip\non the coins I was holding.\n          \"O no!\" I\nlunged for the money, and grabbed it all before other furson wanted to take\nadvantage. 'Four cents, two dimes, and...where's me last dime?\"\n          \"Here you go\nPeter,\" the woman I bumped into, a raccoon, handed the dime to me. \n          I stood up\nand grinned with closed eyes to the raccoon. \"Thank you ma'am-\" I cut meself\nshort as I opened me eyes and widened them at who it was. \"M-Mrs. Turner!\" I\nstiffened me tail and folded me ears in surprise. \"I-I'm so so sorry for\nbumping into you-\"\n          \"Peter don't\nyou worry,\" she smiled at me and put down her purse of groceries to straighten\nher blue dress out before straightening me vest and shirt off with dirt. \"Oh\nLord you look positively filthy!\" \n          \"I ain't\nthat filthy ma'am,\" I groan while trying to inch meself away. Meanwhile, I\ncouldn't believe meself. Why the heck wasn't I running for me life? \"So how are\nya today Mrs. Turner? Off to church?\"\n          Mrs. Turner\nstopped herself and looked at me funny. \"Peter it's Monday,\" she remarked with\na flicking tail. \"And I'm coming back from the church protesting in response to\nthe newsies striking.\"\n          A smile\ncrossed me muzzle and I walked with her wondering, Who kidnapped the real Mrs. Turner and replaced her with this\nkindhearted woman? \n          Ever since\nthe first protest at Brooklyn Bridge, I've seen less and less of Mrs. Turner\nwhenever I was with her son Lance. Me raccoon friend told me that she was very\nsupportive of the newsies striking and has even been helping the local church\ngive out food and water to newsies striking at rallies. It warmed me heart so\nmuch and made me tail wag.\n          Days went\nby, and more rumors and facts swam 'round the City about Randolph Hearst and\nPulitzer's responses to the strike. Instead of giving in to the demands of the\nnewsie's new union, they were replaced with older men being paid two dollars a\npaper. Fortunately, they were failing like a wooden boat flying to France. \n          While\neveryone went on about their days like the strike wasn't anything. A few\nsupported the newsies in conversations, but to me surprise, no one cared.\nEveryone went to their jobs, ate, and slept without worry. Until...\n          Last Saturday,\nas me, James, and Lance were playing kick-the-can outside, our lovely game was\ninterrupted when shouting was heard over the rooftops of the tenements. All\nbreathing stopped while everyone outside went to see young newsies and a\nsnowstorm of newspapers blow through the streets like ice. \n          Apparently,\nI learned from Mrs. Turner later that evening that dozens of newsboys attacked\na couple of wagons selling The New York\nWorld and The New York Journal. Papers\nwere shredded, the men selling the papers were beaten to a pulp (I didn't admit\nit, but I found it hilarious that grown fursons and human men were beaten by a\nbuncha young cubs), and the police were madder than Mrs. Turner was at me when\nI saw her in the bath. \n\"I cannot believe those brats\nwould become criminals,\" one gentlewolf commented to a gentletiger. \"I mean,\nthey're just children.\"\n\"They're being selfish.\nBecause of them troublesome cubs I hafta go pick up the daily paper from other papers,\" a fancy human lady in\nsweatshop attire whispered to her friend as I passed. \n\"The Lord did not tell Moses\nto enact a war with the Pharaoh in Egypt, mind you,\" that one came from Mrs.\nTurner when I went to play with Lance. \n          I grinned\nand turned to Lance as we played kick-the-can. There's the Mrs. Turner I knew and loved, I thought. \n          \"I'm sorry\nabout my mum,\" Lance kicked the empty peach can to me on the cobblestone road. \"She\ncan be a real handful whenever she reads Scripture.\"\n          I looked up\nto me raccoon friend across the street and smile. \"It ain't a problem Lancie,\"\nI called with a kick of the can. Lance stopped it in midflight and played with\nit a bit with his footpaws. \"At least Blink wasn't arrested in the wagon\nattacks.\"\n          \"True,\"\nLance spoke with a flick of his tail before kicking the can to me, \"but I'm a\nlittle worried if this strike will turn into...you know...a war?.\" \n          I stopped\nmeself with me footpaw over the can and laughed. \"Ya been listening to too many\nCivil War stories on the new kinetoscopes?\" I kicked the metal can to him and\nwe continued without worry.\nOn the 24th of\nJuly, Blink invited me and me two friends to a meeting in New Irving Hall near\nthe center of the city. I been there a few times to catch a glimpse of the vaudeville\nvixens that ran the theater, but never got meself the chance to see a\nperformance. Thinking I'd see some of them, I said yes of course. Sadly though,\nJames and Lancie weren't allowed to come with me. It ain't 'cause Blink\nwouldn't invite them, but their parents didn't want me to bring their sons to a\nvaudeville theater.\nAfter spending an hour walking\nalong the sunset of New York City, the street life slowly falling to sleep, i\nspotted the golden theater tucked in a corner of Norfolk and Broome Street. It\nwasn't the only building it up like a Christmas candle, but what caught me eyes\nand made me tail wag with glee were the colors of the plaza and the group of\nnewsies by its entrance. \nAs I stepped closer with a wee\nbit of nervous glances, I started hearing shouting coming from inside the\ntheater. \"Ya a newsie kid?\" one of the newsies, an older mixed fox of about\nseventeen, stopped me by the golden entrance and looked at me funny. \n\"Me name's Peter Gray. I'm a\nfriend of Kid Blink,\" I said to him with a folded ear. That got the other\nnewsies attentive to me. \"I take it ya heard of the hybrid then?\" \nThe older newsie looked down\nat me stature and smiled. \"What's de password den?\" he asked with a wag of his\ntail.\n\"'The World and Journal will\nknow'?\"\nBy the time I opened the door\nto the main auditorium, spending a few minutes to admire the occasional vixens\nin colorful vaudeville get-ups walking outta the backstage, I immediately\nremembered why me ears hurt last time I were 'round a bunch newsies. \n           \"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!\" I covered me ears and\nwinced at the ruckus all 'round the place. \"And I thought Gavin's mother was\nloud!\"\n          Little by\nlittle, I did me best to tolerate the mayhem while trying to find meself a\ncomfy seat. During that, I couldn't believe me eyes at how beautiful the place\nwas. Aside from the golden walls and fancy carvings in every inch of the\nmagnificent walls and booths, the seats were soft and red. So many fursons and\nan occasional human boy crawled over the seats, shouting, cheering, and fooling\n'round childishly. \n          \"'ey! Listen\nup!\" a human with green eyes and olive skin shouted on the stage and whistled. It\nwas Dave Simmons from the bridge, and he looked meaner than a priest. \"Will ya\nshaddup fer one minute?!\" His voice\ncarried from the front seats all the way to the several newsies on the upper\nseats above me ears. \"I says will y shaddup fer\none God-dang minute?!\" he clapped his hands together, and I spotted Blink\nand a few other newsies onstage bark and yip until the place settled down from\ntomfoolery to whispering. \"Thank you!\" \n          After the\nruckus died down, every furson and human newsie in there got to business. It\nbegan with Dave, Boots McAleenan, and other newsies (except Blink for some\nreason, talking to everyone in the seats about how the strikes been going. \n          \"We's cannot\ndo dese violence 'nymore!\" Boots spoke up. \"We's cannot keep doing dis witout\nangering de coppers!\" The raccoon earn plenty of boos for that. \"I knows I's\nsaid dat a while back, but it ain't de only's way!\" \nI lost track as the night\ndragged on, yet when I checked me pocket watch to see it was almost an hour to\nmidnight, me eyes spotted a familiar fox/raccoon muzzle poking outta the\ncrimson curtains onstage. Curious, I stood up and went backstage 'round the\ncurtains to see a couple of newsies talking to me hybrid friend. Beside them\nwere posters about the strike and a couple of newspapers next to stage props. \n\"Blink?\" I spoke up. It was\nloud enough for his raccoonish ears to pick up, but quiet enough to not disturb\nthe speakers on the other side of the curtain. \"Why ain't ya doing any speeches\ntonight?\"\nBlink turned to see me and\nsmiled. \"Peter Gray, It's great to see you!\" he gave me a quick pawshake and quickly\npresented the other two newsies with comfort. \"Dis is Racetrack Higgins and Moe\nFranks. They newsies frem Brooklyn too.\"\nIt was late that night, I\ncouldn't remember their breeds correctly, but I remembered that Racetrack being\na gray-furred mouse and Moe was either a wolf with blue eyes or a gray fox with\na black fedora.\nAs I greeted them, Dave\nappeared outta the corner of me right eye and whispered something hastily to\nthe two while pointing his black paw to the stage. \n\"We's needs ya to talk to 'em\nout dere 'bout no violence now,\" I managed to hear. With a nod, Moe, Dave, and\nRacetrack pushed the red curtain aside and went back to convincing the other\nnewsies to stop attacking distribution centers and news wagons. \nI turned to a nervous Kid\nBlink in front of me and asked, \"Why ain't ya out there Blink? Yer good with\nwords and giving orders, so why ain't ya?\" \nI paused when I noticed Blink\nhad his hybrid tail curled and ears folded down in slight embarrassment. \"I...uh...I's\nnever gotten de chance yet Peter,\" he was lying with a twitching tail. \n\"Ya had all night Blink,\ndidn't ya?\" I asked. \"And I know yer lying Blink.\" I looked at me hybrid friend\nwith concern. \"What's wrong Kid?\" \nHe sighed and shook his muzzle\nas the speeches on the other side of the curtain continued. \"First of all, I's\nain't yer 'Kid', kid,\" he smirked while nudging me left shoulder, but it\nimmediately went back to slightly folded ears and a sigh. \"Secondly, I's...I's a\nbit...I's 'fraid of being out dere...in front of many fursons and udders. It's\nnormal wit bein' on de street, maken' newscasts, but it...different den bein' on\nde stage.\"\nI cocked me head in fast\nconfusion and perked me ears at the loony furson. \"Huh?\" I muttered. In all me years of being on the streets of New\nYork, I never heard of a newsie with a bad case of stage fright?!\n\"But...but yer perfect for maki ng speeches Blink!\" I\ngasped in shock, almost loud enough for the entire auditorium to hear over the\nother three speakers. \"Ya got charisma, the smarts, and helped the strike!\" \nSuddenly, chaos erupted\neverywhere in Irving Hall. Me and Blink were spooked enough to look on the\nother side of the curtain, and we saw a thousand police officers in blue\nuniform whistling with whistles and scruffy strikebreakers with clubs in their\npaws. \n\"Police, stay where you are!\" \n\"Stay where ya are ya brats!\"\nOf course, we didn't. \nIf I thought it were crowded\nbefore, it was pure, unstoppable mayhem.\nI remember me and Blink\nfinding an exit in the back, and got as many out before the coppers and\nstrikebreakers got through the curtain. Blink was dragged out by a stomping\nwave of newsies taunting the coppers with swears, but sadly...me and others\ndidn't. There was about fifteen other newsies captured, and dragged to the\nlovely NYPD jail cells. \nThey searched me possessions,\na smug copper snatched all me coins in me trousers, and the wolf copper from\nbefore grabbed me father's pocket watch without asking. I was tossed into a\ncell for a bail of five dollars and...ya can guess how I was now. \nAs the Bengal stepped closer, I\nnervously smiled. \"So...me name's Peter, sir,\" I said, offering a paw while I was\nleaning back on the brick wall behind me. \"I guess yer name is Hank, right?\"\nHank stared at me with his\nlarge Bengal eyes and I nervously got up. Hank walked over to the bed and sat\ndown, staring at me nervously standing against the concrete wall. \"Whatcha in\nfer newsie?\" he asked after a moment of intense staring. He spoke very deeply,\nlike he were from another country. Maybe a different continent. \nI gulped and looked at him\ntensed. \"Um...well I ain't a newsie uh...Hank, can I call ya that?\" I asked, and to\nme surprise, he nodded with a flick of his orange tail. \"Me friend is a newsie,\nand I got meself arrested last night from Irving Hall.\"\nThe Bengal tiger stared at me\nwhile other criminals in nearby cells taunted on. I recognized one of them as\nbeing Drunk Danny, a strong and stocky, light-skinned human who loved to drink\ntoo much, and loved getting into fights back in Five Points. \"We's got\nourselves a newsie ev'rybody! Git 'em a medal fer whining ev'rybody!\" the human\nlaughed and banged his bars to the point of everyone else banging their cells\nlike an echo. \n\"Newsies, vhat's today's news?\nHuh?!\" someone taunted loudly next to our cell. He was Russian, maybe a fox or\nmixed breed. \"Vhat is it newsie?! Ya fall in yer tails like mutts?!\" \nI folded me ears and slowly sat\nmeself down on the dirty floor, intimidated by the loud and ferocious voices\ngrowling all 'round me. I felt me tail curl against me right leg, and me ears\ndroop anxiously. Me heart pounded against me chest like a hammer against a\nnail, and felt me paws shake like it were a Christmas winter. I wasn't in a\nstreet full of dumb fursons and drunk coppers; I was in a jail fulla real\ncriminals. Honestly, I wasn't scared. \nNo...I'm\nterrified!\nI heard the sound of someone\ncoughing, and looked up to see it was the tiger looked at me weirdly. \"Ya\nscared newsie?\" he asked in a low whisper. I heard the sound of a copper\nbarking, and it the echoing taunts slowly faded away as Hank asked, \"It's okay\nto be scared, especially fer a wolf.\"\nI widened me eyes and\nimmediately stood, up, with me ears still folded in account of me fear. \"I\nain't afraid!\" I insisted, the fear in me body still lingering. \"I just got\ncold.\" \nThe tiger named Hank raised an\neyebrow and smirked back at me across the small cell. \"Aren't ya too young to\nbe in here newsie?\" he asked out of nowhere. \"Ya look like a cub compared to\nthe rest of everyone else here.\"\nI flicked me ears and\nunknowingly smirked at the tiger. \"I'm thirteen, thank ya very much,\" I replied\nwith low annoyance. When the Bengal scoffed, I pouted with, \"And I ain't too\nyoung to be a criminal!\" \nTo me surprise, the tiger\nchuckled and shook his head in amusement. \"Yer in over yer head if ya say so\nwolf,\" he said with a swishing tail. \"Ya wanna know what I'm in 'ere fer?\" I\nperked me ears then and there and replied with a yes. Hank looked left and\nright, then whispered, \"I stole a woman's purse and punched a copper in the\nmuzzle. The copper talking to ya before.\" \nI choked with unstoppable\nlaughter and nearly fell over. \"I'm awful for laughing about it aren't I?\" I\nstopped meself and looked at the grinning tiger. \"So that's why he had the\nbruise on his right cheek.\"\nThe Bengal laid back on the\nbed and stared at the low ceiling. Seeing him made me wonder how the heck the\nbed could hold a tiger that big. \"I was stealing the purse 'cause my family's\nbeen down a bit since I got fired from my job, and them coppers are only\nputting me in 'ere fer a month before I can leave,\" Hank sighed with a curl of\nhis striped tail along the chains holding the bed up. \"Ya got any family\nyerself wolf?\"\nMe thoughts quickly turned to\nme friends, but I dismissed it. \"Nah, I've lived in the city for a while now,\"\nI looked to Hank curiously. \"How big is yer's Hank? And...can I asked where-\"\n\"I worked at?\" Hank finished\nfor me. The tiger turned his gaze to me and sighed. \"I don't matter anymore,\nsince it's the past.\" He flicked his feline ears away, and lifted his muzzle\nwhen we both heard footsteps coming our way. \n \"Peter Gray?\" the familiar voice of the\nbruised wolf came into view outside the bars. \"Yer bail and fine's been paid,\nso yer free to go.\"\nIn the two days since I\narrived in jail, I never felt me heart go aflutter so fast. With widened eyes\nand a wagging tail, I gasped out, \"Really?! B-But how did...someone...pay?\"\nI stopped when the bars opened\nand I stepped out to see me savior beside the officer. To me surprise, it was\nan older mouse in blue overalls and a dirty brown shirt. His fur was gray, and\nI'd recognize those eyes anywhere.  \nI froze in place and felt all\nthe blood rush outta me muzzle. \"H-H-Hansel?\" I stuttered for a moment. Hansel\nwalked over to me and suddenly gave me a hug. \n\"Thank you officer, we will be\non our way now,\" he beamed to the wolf, then grabbed my paw. A few inmates\nwhistled and chatted at us like ninnies, but Hansel largely ignored them \"Come on\nPeter.\"\nNot knowing what to say, I\nobliged and started walking. \"Wait, first...\" I let go of Hansel's paw and turned\nto the wolf copper, \"I'd like to have me pocket watch back please.\" The officer\nraised an eyebrow in fake confusion, and I lowly growled. \"Now.\"\nHe sighed and grimaced before\nhanding it over to me. I checked the inside and still saw the photo of the gray\nwolf in it. With a sight grin, I wagged me tail and turned back to an awaiting\nHansel. I turned to me left to look at Hank behind the jail cell and was\nsurprised to see the Bengal smiling at me. \n\"Martha and Rufus,\" he spoke\nup right as I almost turned. \"I forgot to tell ya that's the name of my wife\nand cub.\" He waved to me and sighed. \"Take care of yerself Peter.\"\nI nodded to the Bengal and\nwhispered, \"Good luck Hank.\"\nAs we left the police station,\nI kept me ears folded until we stepped outside in the afternoon air. As\ncarriages and coppers passed by us, me and Hansel were silent for a long time,\nuntil we came across a familiar street and I saw Hansel and Edward's tenement\nbuilding up ahead. \n\"Uh...thank you Hansel...for\npaying me bail and fine,\" I stammered, then sighed in nervous silence under the\ncloudy sky. The smell of rotten eggs and soiled sweat still filled the air of\nthe street, and the average working fursons passing by didn't smell any better.\n\"I...I...\"\n\"I ain't mad at you Peter, fer\nstanding up to the newsies,\" Hansel said after a moment. \"In fact, me and\nEdward are proud of you,\" the mouse stopped and looked down at me with a slight\nlook of disdain. \"The fine and bail cost us...it wasn't cheap for us.\" Ouch. \nI clamped me paws and felt me\nbreathing hasten. \"I-If there's anything I can do to help ya two, I-I'll work\nfor ya and-\" I said, soon interrupted when Hansel put a finger to me lips, and\nknelt down to give me a hug. \n\"Edward and I are just so\nhappy you're not hurt!\" he lemme go and smiled at me with a unique mouse's\nsmile, the kind that made me always wish he were me blood father. \"Ever since\nwe found you sad at the orphanage windows back in Sandy Hook Bay, you've turned\nfrom a strange wolf orphan into almost a son, and me and Edward will be here to\nhelp you, no matter what happens.\" He clasped me shoulders and lastly said,\n\"You've missed out on a lot since the rain in Irving Hall.\"\nI perked me ears and wiped\naway the tears forming in me eyes, now becoming serious. \"How do you know\nthat?\" I asked curiously. \"H-How are the newsies doing?\"\nHansel stopped himself and\nsmiled passed me. I turned to see Edward scurrying up to us and wagging his\nfoxy tail. He hugged me and Hansel tightly, then smiled a foxish smile at me\nbefore kissing me forehead. \n\"I guess Edward is glad you're\nalright too Peter,\" Hansel chuckled while holding Eddie's paw. He pointed to\nthe tenement building and whispered something to me that caught me attention.\n\"If ya wanna have dinner with me and Edward, we'll tell ya what's been\nhappening with the newsies.\" \nWith a shrug, and a deep growl\nin me belly, I nodded. \"Alright then.\"","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/887764-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-18-kid-blink-on-the-brooklyn-bridge.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/897294-the-adventures-of-peter-gray-chapter-20-helping-blink.json"}